Punching machinery



G. P. THOMAS.

PUNCHING MACHINERY. APPLICATION FILED AUG-30. 191a.

Patented June 8, 1920.

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G. P. THOMAS- PUNCHING MACHINERY- APPLICATION FILED AUG-30. 1918.

1,342,878 Patented June 8, 1920.

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IT'I ll! Q IVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

' GEORGE P. THOMAS, OF GLENSHA'W, PENNSYLVANIA.

PUNCHING MACHINERY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. THOMAS, residing at Glenshaw, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvementsin Punching Machinery, of which improvements the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to machinery for perforating structural steelplates for bridges, buildings, boats, boilers, etc., which machineryincludes a punch, plate-supporting tables arranged on each side of thepunch, and guides for "engaging the opposite ends of a plate for holdingit in alinement while it is being advanced and punched.

' In operating such machinery, a blank plate is' first placed upon thefeed table, that is to saythe work-supporting table at the 1 guides. I

to the plate they hold it in alinement during feeding side of the punch,and, by working to, careful measurements, is manually moved to theproper position for engagement by the After the guides have beenattached the punching operation.

It is well known by those familiar with the 'operation of such punchingmachinery that much time is required for centering a plate prior topunching. In point of fact it frequently happens that when punchingshort plates of diiferent'widths almost as much time is required forcentering a plate as for punching it. IVhen centering a plate accordingto the usual practice, the width of each plate must be measured at bothends of the plate (it being understood that a rolled plate may varyconsiderably in width) the middle point of each end is then marked, andfinally the plate is manually moved laterally to the position for properengagement by the end guides. By way of comment upon the last step, themanual movement of a heavy plate to an exact position is a thing whichis not always easy of accomplishment.

With the foregoing considerations in View, it is the object of myinvention to provide, for machinery of the character described, meansfor quickly centering a blank plate upon the feed table prior to theengagement of the plate by the end guides.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings, which form part of myspecification, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of myinvention. Figure 1 is a plan view of a Specifieationof Letters Patent.

Application filed August 30, 1918. Serial No. 252,070.

punch and work table; Fig. 2 a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 a verticalsectional v ew to enlarged scale taken 011 the line III-III, Flgrl; andFig. 4 a detail sectional View taken on the line IV-IV, Fig. 3.

In the punching machinery which I pro vide the punch may be of any wellknown or suitable type. As diagrammatically represented herein, itcomprises a frame 1 provided with an anvil 2 and with a reciproeatinghead 3, which members are in turn respectively provided with usually aplurality of dies at and punches 5. The work table also may be of anysuitable form or construction, such for example as shown in my PatentNo. 835,128. As shown in the drawings, the table comprises supports 6and 7 arranged on opposite sides of the punch l and each provided withnarrow work-supporting rolls 8 on which a blank rests while it is beingfed through the punch. WVhile both supports 6 and 7 constitute broadly asingle work table, the support 6 may be conveniently designated as afeeding table and the support 7 as a receiving table.

For feeding a blank and properly controlling the longitudinal spacingintervals, the receiving table '7 may be provided with a guideconsisting of a spacing carriage 9, which may be of the generalcharacter of that shown in my above mentioned Patent No. 835,123, andthe feeding table 6 may be provided with a tail-guide 10, preferably ofthe character shown in my Patent No. 1,311,539.

In the general operation of the punching apparatus as thus fardescribed, a plate to be punched is first placed upon the rolls 8 of thetable 6. The plate, after being centered, is attached at its ends to thespacing carriage 9 and the tail-guide 10, and the spacing carriageoperated to advance the plate predetermined spacing intervals throughthe punch between the dies 4; and punches 5. In thus guiding a platewhile being punched the carriage or guide 9 rides upon the beams 7' ofthe ieceiving table, and the tail guide rides upon a centrally disposedbeam 20 of the feeding table.

For centering the plate or other blank upon the table 6, prior to itsengagement by the spacing carriage 9 and tail-guide or carriage 10,provide means for engaging the opposite sides of the blank and moving itlaterally toward and to the center line of advance Such 'meanspreferably move simultaneously at the same rate of advance from oppositesides of the table. The means which I show hereinfor this purpose areparticularly illustrated in Fig. 3, and comprise a pair of clamps 1112slidably mounted upon arms 13 and 1 1 projecting laterally from thetable 6. An oppositely threaded screw 15 extends transversely of thework table and has threaded engagement with both the clamps 11 and 12,so that by rotating the screw, as by means of a hand centering clampsare preferably proaided,

and each pair is preferably movableindependently of the other. By thuseffecting indeped'endently the operation of each pair of clamps, aplate, which may have slight variations in its width, may be properlybrought to the desired position for punch- In'the operation of myinvention, thetwo pairs of centering clamps ll and 12 are, bytherotation of the screws 15, first moved outwardly,..and. a plate to bepunched is placed upon the work-supporting table 6'betweensuch clamps.The hand wheels 16- are then turned independently to rotate the screws15, and in consequence thereof the pairs of clamps 11, 12 are movedtoward the center line of advance of the plate and into engagement withsuch plate, 'When, the plate hasbeen thus centered its ends are at.-tached, to the spacing, carriage or guide. 9, and the tail-guide 10, thecentering means are moved from engagement of the plate,

' andthe end guides cooperate withthetable I to hold the plate inproperalinement during the punching operation. I

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described theprinciple and operation of my invention together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However,I desire to have it understood that, within thescope ofthe appendedclaim, my invention may be practised with other forms of apparatus thanthat particularly shown and described herein;

I claim'as myinvention: I

The combination of a. punch for perforating structural plates, a feedingtable on one side and a receiving table onthe other side of said; punchfor supporting-a-v plate while beingpunched, guides arranged-one on eachside of the punch. and PITOVlClBQl w th means for engagingtheoppositeends of aplate,

said guides cooperating, with saidtables to hold. a plate in alinement,while being advanced and punched, and plate-centering means arrangedlon.each side of. said feeding table and simultaneouslymoveable-uniformlytoward and from: thejcenter line thereof for engaging the side of aplateresting upon the feeding table and moving such plate into punchingalinement prior to the engagement of the plate by said. guides,saidplate-centering means being removed from engagement of the platewhile the plate is being advanced and punched under the controlof'said.guides.

In testimony whereof: I havehereunto set my' hand-.1 V p I GEORGE P. V

Witnesses; i V i G. G. CERlIILL,

' PAUL N. CnIro noW.

